Another successful season & planning ahead for trips in late 2018-early 2019

Hi everybody,

After leaving the UK in September 2016 for another expedition down to West Africa and back, Aminah is home!

Our last trip of the season arrived into Marrakech at the end of May 2017 after the long journey north through Senegal, Mauritania, Western Sahara and southern Morocco. After a couple of days turnaround in Marrakech, Aminah, Zoe & Jason headed to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, crossing the Mediterranean to Algeciras where they began the long drive back to the UK via Spain and France.

Rainy season is now well underway in West Africa, a time that makes travelling in the region challenging at best, so time for Aminah to have a well deserved break back home in the UK.

We'd like to say a massive thank you to Zoe and Jason who ran the trips for OWA this season, they both did a truly fantastic job! With trips in West Africa it's so important to have good crew on board, they're an essential part of any overland expedition, and Zoe and Jason's hard work and enthusiasm is highlighted by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we've received from the passengers that travelled with us. Thanks very much indeed Zoe and Jason!

You can read some of the great comments the passengers from this seasons trips wrote about Zoe, Jason and OWA (as well as previous seasons comments) by clicking on the photo below. Thanks so much to all of those who took the time to write such positive feedback for us. Cheers guys!

Dave the Hat headed up to the Drago workshop a few weeks ago to give Aminah some TLC and a good deep clean, as well as a good mechanical inspection. As you can imagine the road conditions take their toll on Aminah and the mud and dust clings to everything, so it takes some time to get her cleaned up properly. After a few long days and nights Hatter parked her up under cover until our next season of trips begin in late 2018/early 2019.

So what's next? Well, over the next few months we'll be jigging things around a little to take into account what has and hasn't worked well on our trips to date. We're going to start the 2018-19 season slightly later in the year, with our Dakar to Freetown trip starting in early November rather than mid-October. Hopefully the extra few weeks will give the roads more of a chance to dry out!

You can see all of the dates for our trips in late 2018/early 2019 here: 

New Dates For Trips In 2018-19 With OWA

If you haven't done so already please send us an Enquiry Form to register your interest in joining our trips in the future.

Remember, you can keep in touch with all the latest happenings at Overlanding West Africa via our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Pinterest and Google +).

We look forward to hearing from you and hope to see you on board Aminah in 2018-19 for another adventure through magical West Africa!

David Oades (Hatter), Al Goodridge, Jimmy C and Aminah

Below is a wonderful selection of photos that our passengers took over the course of the season. If these don't tempt you to visit the region with us then we don't know what will! Many thanks to Mahesh Patel, Zinzi Speear, Kath Donaldson, Knut Ovrebo, John Stenson, Melanie Smith and Jim Stolk - your photos really do show off what a magical region West Africa is to visit!

The North Of Morocco: Imperial Cities, Roman Ruins, The Blue City & The Mediterranean Coast

3 nights in Fez provided plenty of time to explore the bustling medina, pottery factories and tanneries for which this ancient imperial city is so well known. The ceramics, above are all made in Fez, which is the centre of the Moroccan pottery industry. The tiled tables on the right and the fountain above them, are made of many small hand made mosaic tiles. The house numbers in the centre of the photo are made by carving a fully glazed tile.

The picture on the left shows goat hides drying having been unhaired, degreased and soaked. In the centre are hands of Fatima, a powerful talisman of good luck, Fatima being the youngest daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. 

Several of Fez's tanneries are being gentrified which will hopefully benefit the health of the tannery workers and help the surrounding environment. The tannery in the picture above uses natural dyes. 

Below shows pottery being painted with intricate designs before being glazed. In the centre are tagines, of which there are no shortage of in Morocco!

Our visit to Fez coincided with the World Sacred Musical Festival, a yearly event which draws artists from all around the world. Below shows a performance by the Algerian Raï singer Reda Taliani in Place Boujloud. Although originally from Algeria, Raï is a popular musical style in Morocco and the crowd knew all the words - it was a lively evening!

Meknes is the least visited of Morocco's 4 imperial cities, and was the capital under Moulay Ismail, the second ruler of Morocco's Alaouite dynasty. Below is a photo of Alice in the royal stables Moulay Ismail built in Meknes, which are thought to have held 12,000 horses, with a groom and slave for each horse. A canal providing fresh water ran underneath the stables, whilst the granary stored enough grain for the horses to last 20 years. The granary had a reservoir beneath it, with thick walls and a forest on the roof to keep the grain stored in ideal conditions. 

Below on the left is a shot of Meknes's impressive Zelllij tiling; in the centre the beautiful riad we stayed in; and on the right inside the royal stables. 

A short drive from Meknes brought us to the town of Moulay Idriss, named after Moulay Idriss I, who is credited with bringing Islam to Morocco in 789AD. His vast mausoleum, in the centre of the photo below, is an important Islamic pilgrimage site, and 6 pilgrimages here are said to equal one Hajj to Mecca. 

Above shows some examples of Zellij tile work in Moulay Idriss.

A short drive from the town brought us to Volublis, a Berber then Roman city set amongst fertile agricultural land. It was originally the capital of Mauretania, a Berber kingdom from the 3rd century BC, and later became a province of the Roman Empire, which corresponded to the Mediterranean coast of modern day Morocco.

Volublis is thought to have been home to 20,000 inhabitants at its peak, and predominantly involved in olive and grain production. 

Many impressive mosaic floors have survived, such as these examples shown below. 

After the Romans left Volublis the site is thought to have been inhabited until the 14th century, then falling into disrepair as it was ransacked to provide materials to build Meknes. Volubilis was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1755, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Below, Alice samples the Solarium! 

A stunning drive north brought us to Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains - no prizes for guessing why it's called 'The Blue City'! It was originally built as a fortress to fight Portuguese invasions.

Many woolen products are produced in Chefchaouen, including blankets, as well as rugs as shown in the photo below. We could have used a few more of these ourselves with the cool weather in the mountains!

Many of us went trekking in the Rif Mountains close by, though Ian and Rowan thought the cafe was a better bet!

Another beautiful drive took us across to the Atlantic coast and the town of Asilah. It was initially a Phoenician trading base from around 1500BC, before becoming a Portuguese outpost, a base for pirates in the 18th and 19th centuries, and later part of Spanish Morocco.

Asilah has many striking murals - as shown below - and hosts an annual mural painting festival.

Our last day of the trip (and the end of our season of trips) saw us drive to Tangier, a melting pot of many different cultures over the centuries located at the entry to the Straits of Gibraltar. Close by is Hercules' Cace, where the Greeks believed that Hercules slept before attempting 1 of his 12 labours. Those of us who'd journeyed all the way north from Accra, Ghana over the past 4 months slept just as well as he must have done!

Above, from left to right, is a picture of John, our waiter, Ida, Ian, Alice, Rowan, Jase and Will.

The medina in Tangier is alot smaller than in other Moroccan cities we visited. The sea front was formerly a busy port, but this has declined in recent years with the construction of a new modern port out of town, leaving a relaxed area to wonder around.

After a great last night of the trip and long farewells, Al, Jase and Aminah left on the long drive back to the UK. They made smooth progress for 2 nights in Spain and 1 night in France, but neither the night ferry from Ceuta to Algeciras nor the European motorways made for particularly good photos!

The shots above and below were taken on the ferry from Calais to Dover on the final leg of the journey. The smoke in the photo above is coming from the encampment of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers near Calais port. We read in the newspaper on the ferry that we'd travelled through France during a large strike - with the media reporting a 'national shutdown' - but it seemed much like business as usual to us!

Back in the UK at last - Aminah cruises up the M20 in Kent. She's looking forward to a well deserved rest over the summer, having carried us almost without incident since September 2015!

Many thanks to all of the overlanders who've travelled with us over the past 8 months - some truly fantastic people to have shared the journey with. 

Bookings for next season are coming in thick and fast, with good numbers on all of our trips already. We're very much looking forward to being back on the road in October!

Many thanks to Alice, Ian, Ida, Fed, JP John for letting us use their photos, much appreciated!

Across the Sahara Desert: Sand Dunes, Salt Lakes, Bush Camps & Beautiful Coastline

From Touba we journeyed north to the coast and the Langue de Barbarie National Park, located on a long peninsula just south of the mouth of the Senegal River. This park attracts a huge variety of migratory birds, and we were lucky to see a few during our stay here.

A short drive from here took us to St Louis, the former French colonial capital on an island in the river Senegal. Here we stayed near the busy fishing community of Ndar along the sandy peninsula.

The fishing market is always an impressive sight, as fridge trucks are loaded up with fish brought ashore on horse drawn carts, to be sent all over Senegal and beyond. 

The fleet of colourful pirogues pictured below stretched for hundreds of metres, but it was difficult to take photos that did the colour justice as the harmattan is currently in full swing. As a result the St Louis sky turned orange with sand blown in from the desert, giving some hazy photos!

Below shows some of the fading colonial architecture in the old colonial quarter of St Louis. Though usually a thriving town the old city centre was eerily quiet when we visited!

From St Louis a short drive took us to the border with Mauritania and the town of Rosso, where a ferry across the river Senegal awaited us. Crossing this particular border is not the most relaxing of experiences, but fortunately there is less hassle from the officials these days than there used to be! 

Above are some shots from the market in Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital. It's a rather unusual city located close to the coast but surrounded by desert. The busy traders and colourful market more than make up for the sand storms that regularly affect this city. 

Mauritanian tents have a plain exterior but a beautifully patterned interior, as shown in this photo in the market place above.

Located just a few kilometres from the city centre, Nouakchott's 'Port de Pêche' (or fishing port) is vast. It attracts fishermen from all over West Africa and the fish market it supports continues for several kilometres along the sandy beach.

The catch is very varied, with some fish being caught in the shallow water and others on long and arduous journeys further out into the Atlantic.

Jase went to check out the surfing possibilities but it turned out the coastline was rather busy!

North of Nouakchott stretches hundreds of kilometres of Sahara desert, though it must have seen a little rain within the last few months as there was some surprisingly green and fresh looking vegetation about. 

Shortly before the border with Western Sahara we crossed Mauritania's only railway, below, which carries iron ore some 700 kms away from a mine in Zouerate to the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou.

Crossing the border between Mauritania and Western Sahara was surprisingly swift, though the land mines that litter no-mans-land allowed neither photos nor pee-stops! Above is a photo of Lexi at our first night stop in Western Sahara, which is perfect for bush camping with miles of space all around and perfect seclusion.  

As always the coastline was absolutely stunning, with the main highway often running close to the steep cliffs. 

Above is a group shot taken en route. From left to right are Ian, Will, John, Nathan, Hiro, Lexi, John, Jase, Fred, Jan, Zoe, Rowan, Pauline, Ida, Alice and JP. 

Below is a photo of Zoe, Fred, John, Ian and Will.

Above, Al and Alice, near the edge! 

On the way we passed lots of camels, though most were a little camera shy!

Dakhla is the first town of any significance you get to after crossing from Mauritania, located on a small peninsula and a popular destination for kite surfing holidays. It was rather surreal to see all the colourful kites on parade after miles of empty desert!

Above, Ida, Rowan and Zoe prepare to wash their feet, whilst the boys enjoy a sunset beer below!

We were treated to some stunning sunsets whilst bush camping on our journey through Western Sahara The one below was particularly special, lighting up almost the whole sky as Al and Alice stood by Aminah.

Above shows the Bedouin camp we stayed at in the desert for 2 nights. In the foreground is a salty seasonal waterfall which feeds the Sebkha (salt lake) of Oum Dba. 

Below, Nathan standing above the Sebkha. 

Many of us spent the day exploring the Sebkha. Above is a photo of Fred, Hiro and John wandering among the sand dunes, and below, of Al at the top of Mount Gara in the middle of the Sebkha.

Above is Will at the dunes some distance from our camp which he visited on a 4x4 tour. Below shows Al in front of Mt Gara.

Above is Lexi and Zoe at the top of Mt Gara, whilst Jan enjoys fresh camel milk with nomadic camel herders below.

Some of the group visited an area of salt production at the far end of the Sebkha, as shown above with Ian, Will, Alice, Nathan and Jan. 

To extract the salt, deep channels are dug into the ground and flooded with water. This salty water is then extracted, and evaporated off to leave salt. 

Above, a Bedouin tent some of us stayed in, complete with feline company! 

Below, Al, Nathan and John enjoy camel and date tagine.

From here we continued north to Tarfaya where we saw 'La Casa del Mar' (above), a former British trading post from the 1880's, renamed as such when this territory became Spanish Sahara. 

We also passed Tarfaya wind farm, currently the largest in Africa with 131 wind turbines.

Above is Naila Lagoon, known for its fish and also flamingos which we saw in the distance. 

Once we headed north of TanTan the scenery began to change as we left the coast behind and started our approach to the Anti-Atlas mountain range.

Our next bush camp was in a cracking spot with sand dunes rolling off into the distance. The hill behind us did its best to shelter us from the wind!

Above, Ida enjoys sunset over our camp spot. Below, the road to Tafraout, in the Anti-Atlas.

A couple of nights in Tafraout gave us the chance to stretch our legs and head off for some trekking, as shown above with Lexi, Hiro, Will, John and Zoe. 

The area around Tafraout is known for its hillsides scattered with granite boulders. We also saw some prehistoric rock carvings.

Above, Nathan, Jan, Fred, Zoe, John, John, Will and Alice rest in the shade of a boulder whilst out trekking. 

Below is a photo of 'Les Pierres Bleus', the work of Belgian artist Jean Veran.

Below is a typical street in Tiznit where we stopped for a few hours. Tiznit is famous for the work of its silver smiths and jewellers and made for an interesting stop en route.

Our next stop was Taroudant in the Sous valley. Almost the entire city lies behind its protective walls. Here there is an Arab and a Berber market, both of which are well-known for their leather work, jewellery and carpets. 

From here we returned to the Atlantic coast to visit the famous town of Essaouira, which will feature in the next blog in a couple of weeks time, as this trip to Marrakech comes to an end and we start our final trip of the season up to Tangier. 

Many thanks to Lexi and Alice for sharing many of the photos in this blog!